Evangeline Lilly

The trailer for “Ant-Man” is out, offering fans a first glimpse of Marvel’s next stand-alone superhero movie. The long-anticipated film sees Paul Rudd as the titular character, a reformed thief named Scott Lang and the second superhero to take the name Ant-Man. The trailer, which debuted during the series premiere of Marvel’s “Agent Carter” on ABC Tuesday, depicts an imprisoned Lang being offered a second chance by Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the original Ant-Man. “Scott, I’ve watching you for a while now. You’re different. Now don’t let anyone tell you that you have nothing to offer. Second chances don’t come around all that often,” Pym tells Lang from across a table in what appears to be a police interrogation room. “I suggest you take a really close look at it.” Pym plays to Lang’s need to redeem himself as a […]

Marvel is offering a tiny glimpse of its upcoming summer release “Ant-Man,” with a new, 17-second miniature teaser that might require a microscope for close study. The long-anticipated film sees Paul Rudd as the title character, a reformed thief named Scott Lang and the second superhero to take the name Ant-Man. In the film, Lang must help his mentor, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), protect the secret behind his Ant-Man suit, which enables its wearer to shrink in size while enjoying increased strength. Watch the very small clip below. The film features Evangeline Lilly as Pym’s daughter Hope Van Dyne and Corey Stoll as antagonist Darren Cross. It also stars Bobby Cannavale, Michael Pena, Abby Ryder Forston, Judy Greer, David Dastmalchian, Wood Harris, John Slattery, Gregg Turkington and T.I. “Ant-Man” is directed by Peyton Reed, whose previous credits include “Bring It […]

One of the most controversial decisions “The Hobbit” filmmakers made was the addition of Silvan elf warrior Tauriel, an entirely new character not present in J.R.R. Tolkien’s story. And perhaps nobody was more suspicious of changes than Evangeline Lilly, the “Lost” alumna who portrayed the new character in “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” and “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” in theaters next week. “I was adamant that I wouldn’t see [‘The Lord of the Rings’] films because there was no way that anybody was going to be able to re-create what I had imagined in my mind on the screen,” the self-described Tolkien purist told Hero Complex last year. But the efforts of screenwriters Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens to craft a character whose presence “didn’t feel jarring” and “felt like she belonged” in […]

Paul Rudd is looking pensive in the first photo from “Ant-Man,” Marvel’s upcoming superhero adventure due for release next year. Production on “Ant-Man” kicked off this week in San Francisco, with Rudd starring as reformed thief Scott Lang, the second superhero to take the name Ant-Man. In the film, Lang must help his mentor Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) protect the secret behind his Ant-Man suit, which enables its wearer to shrink in size while enjoying increased strength. The movie, which will also shoot in Georgia, features Evangeline Lilly as Pym’s daughter Hope Van Dyne, while actor Corey Stoll will play Darren Cross, a former ally of Pym’s who becomes the villain known as the Yellowjacket. A shadow of uncertainty fell over the film earlier this year when original “Ant-Man” director Edgar Wright abruptly departed the project he’d steered toward the […]

Actor Patrick Wilson is set to join the cast of “Ant-Man,” the upcoming Marvel superhero film from fan-favorite director Edgar Wright. It’s unclear what role Wilson might take in the planned 2015 release, which will see Michael Douglas play the original Avengers member Hank Pym, a scientist who, in the comics, invents a shrinking serum that allows him to sneak around in miniature form and surprise foes. The film also will star Paul Rudd as reformed thief Scott Lang, the second superhero to take the name Ant-Man, with Evangeline Lilly, most recently seen on screen as the warrior elf Tauriel in “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” widely tipped to sign on to the cast as well. It’s unclear whether either incarnation of the diminutive hero will appear in writer-director Joss Whedon’s upcoming “Avengers” sequel, “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” which […]

Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” and Alfonso Cuarón’s Oscar-nominated “Gravity” are the top contenders at the upcoming 40th annual Saturn Awards, with eight nominations each. “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” 2012’s highest-grossing film, earned seven nominations, while “Iron Man 3,” “Pacific Rim,” “Star Trek Into Darkness” and “Thor: The Dark World” were recognized with five nominations each. On the television side, HBO’s lavish fantasy “Game of Thrones” received five nominations, as did AMC’s drama “Breaking Bad” and TNT’s “Falling Skies.” Founded in 1972 to recognize films often overlooked by mainstream awards series, the Saturn Awards fetes projects in a broad swath of genres, including science fiction, horror, fantasy, thriller and action/adventure — there are also awards for best independent film with nominees including critical favorites “12 Years a Slave” and “Inside Llewyn Davis”; best international film (a […]

When it came time to craft “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” the second installment in their latest trilogy of movies based on the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, filmmaker Peter Jackson and his screenwriting partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens had a decision to make. The story, as they saw it, was crying out for a dynamic female character. So, they invented one. With the film arriving in theaters Friday, audiences soon will have the opportunity to meet Evangeline Lilly’s Tauriel, the first character entirely crafted by Jackson and his creative counterparts for the screen. She’s a fierce warrior, the captain of the guard in the forest of Mirkwood, and she’s apt to be controversial, merely because she represents perhaps the greatest digression yet from Tolkien’s classic texts. Hero Complex caught up with Boyens to discuss Tauriel in greater detail, […]

Middle-Earth’s denizens journeyed to Hollywood on Monday night for the world premiere of “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” the second of Peter Jackson’s three films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1937 novel, “The Hobbit.” The film’s stars hit the shrub- and leaf-adorned black carpet in front of the Dolby Theater in Hollywood to fête the latest adaptation of the mystical realm where hobbits, dwarves, elves, orcs and goblins dwell. The carpet was designed to echo the sylvan realm of Mirkwood, which plays an important role in the new film, set to open in theaters Dec. 13. Dwarf-prince Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) and his company, which includes Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), travel through the forest on the next leg of their quest to reclaim Erebor, the treasure-filled city under the Lonely Mountain that was usurped from Thorin’s ancestors by the dragon […]

Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Orlando Bloom and more stars of “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” are expected to walk the red carpet this evening at the film’s Los Angeles premiere. Can’t be at the Dolby Theater tonight? Tune in to the live video stream here on Hero Complex, beginning at 6 p.m. PST. “The Desolation of Smaug,” due in theaters Dec. 13, is the second installment of director Peter Jackson’s planned trilogy based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. The movie sees Bilbo Baggins (Freeman) continue along on his journey to assist the company of dwarfs led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) reclaim their lands and the treasure now hoarded by the dragon Smaug (Cumberbatch). Along the way they encounter a host of new friends and foes — including the valiant Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly), the first character wholly invented […]

Director Peter Jackson showed off nearly 20 minutes of “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” — the second installment in his planned trilogy based on the J. R. R. Tolkien novel — during a worldwide fan event Monday afternoon. After the film’s notable absence from San Diego’s Comic-Con International earlier this year, Warner Bros. is beginning to drum up hype for the sequel, which is due out Dec. 13. The event, held in satellite-linked theaters in New York, Los Angeles, London and Wellington, featured the new footage, a look at Jackson’s most recent production blog video, a preview of the upcoming film’s closing song, a peek at a new scene from this week’s “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” extended edition release and a live Q&A session with Jackson and cast members. Richard Armitage, who plays dwarf Thorin Oakenshield, and Orlando […]